Getting Ready—E stablishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

This week’s assignment is to make contact with two professionals from another country and to make efforts to study an organization of my choice. Honestly, I have made a late start to contacting two professionals outside of the United States. Therefore, I have not been successful in making contact with a professional as yet but I have not lost hope. I am hoping to make contact with the professionals I have emailed but if I don’t get a response I will have to use alternate for Part 1 of my blog assignment. The website I decided to sign up to is Harlem Children’s Zone and National Black Child Development Institute. Both organizations focus not only on education for young children but provide resources for parents, scholarship information, conferences, as well as health information.

 

My Supports

Having a strong support system is very important to remain sane in today’s hectic society. I don’t know what I would do without the support of my family, friends, and supervisor. On the days when I want to pull my hair out and scream “Calgon take me away”, I can have comfort in knowing that I can depend upon friends and family. My husband keeps me laughing, even on those days when I want to cry. Seeing the humor, in my everyday routine and challenges helps me get through many difficult days. Another, person that is very supportive in my daily environment is my sister; I couldn’t ask for a better sister, she is the epitome of what a sister should be and the best aunt to my children. She is there when my children and I need her and offer breaks when stress sets in.  The support of my children keeps me grounded and keeps things in perspective. They allow me to visualize the smaller things in life and keep me on my toes. They are so many other people that support me, too many to name them all. However, I can not forget my supervisor, I am so fortunate to have a supervisor who is supportive and appreciate the hard work I do. She's always there to remind me, how important my hard work is and to be proud of my accomplishments.

            I am lucky to have a great support system in place in my daily environment. My experience as a social worker, I am able to witness many people who have no support in their lives and this makes it difficult for them to thrive daily. Without my support system, life for me would be miserable and I would probably be an angry person, feeling hopeless. If I was to ever loose my support, my stress level would increase and I would feel sort of lost. Nevertheless, although support is important to me, I am aware that nothing is promised, therefore, it’s also important for me to rely on myself as well. Years ago I experienced losing my mother who was a big part of my daily environment. Although difficult, I had to learn how to live again without her support; I have finally conquered this challenge.

I imagine myself breaking a leg, and thinking how in the world I would be able to work, take care of my children, or do my everyday routines. I would have to really become more dependent on others which frighten me because I would have to wait on others, and ask for help, something I don’t like doing often. The support of my husband would definitely come in handy, who couldn’t use a good laugh, I am sure my children would be happy to be my little assistance, my sister would probably bring me meals, and chauffer me around, and my supervisor would ask me “ is there anything I  can do for you”. Even though I am very independent, I do understand how important, my support system is and how fortunate I am to have them.

My Connections to Play

Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity.” Kay Redfield Jamison (professor of psychiatry)

It is in playing, and only in playing, that the individual child or adult is able to be creative and to use the whole personality, and it is only in being creative that the individual discovers the self.” ~ D.W. Winnicott (British pediatrician)

 

As I searched to find pictures of my childhood games, I got a feeling of nostalgia. What great memories I had playing hopscotch and double dutch (jump rope) in the summer. I remember getting up really early so that I would have time to go outside and play all day during the summer. Both my parents encouraged me to play and all of the games shown above were taught to me by my older siblings.

Today, children are more absorbed in television, video, iPods, iPhones, laptops, etc. Children of today’s society do not play as much as the children when I was growing up. When I grew up, we played games that were traditional but we also created our own games. What children of today don’t realize is that play doesn’t cost anything. Play is free of charge; therefore parents don’t always have to find extra curricular activities that cost for their children to play. When I was younger my friends and I would collect our few coins put it together, gather blankets, and have a picnic. Now children have to be entertained by movies, electronics, and high tech technology resulting in their brains not free to create. Play, played a large role in shaping who I am today and those memories are imbedded in me forever. Even as an adult, I still love to play, I play with my children, I play cards with friends, I go skating etc. Play keeps adults vibrant and allows us to not take life so seriously all the time. 

Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity.” Kay Redfield Jamison (professor of psychiatry)

It is in playing, and only in playing, that the individual child or adult is able to be creative and to use the whole personality, and it is only in being creative that the individual discovers the self.” ~ D.W. Winnicott (British pediatrician)

 

As I searched to find pictures of my childhood games, I got a feeling of nostalgia. What great memories I had playing hopscotch and double dutch (jump rope) in the summer. I remember getting up really early so that I would have time to go outside and play all day during the summer. Both my parents encouraged me to play and all of the games shown above were taught to me by my older siblings.

Today, children are more absorbed in television, video, iPods, iPhones, laptops, etc. Children of today’s society do not play as much as the children when I was growing up. When I grew up, we played games that were traditional but we also created our own games. What children of today don’t realize is that play doesn’t cost anything. Play is free of charge; therefore parents don’t always have to find extra curricular activities that cost for their children to play. When I was younger my friends and I would collect our few coins put it together, gather blankets, and have a picnic. Now children have to be entertained by movies, electronics, and high tech technology resulting in their brains not free to create. Play, played a large role in shaping who I am today and those memories are imbedded in me forever. Even as an adult, I still love to play, I play with my children, I play cards with friends, I go skating etc. Play keeps adults vibrant and allows us to not take life so seriously all the time.

Relationship Reflection

It is important from the time we are born to have positive relationships in our lives. Throughout my life there have been many relationships that shaped who I am today. There are people that came into my life for a reason and those who remain by my side today.

The first person that comes to mind when I think of a positive relationship is my dear father. He just visited me and I truly enjoyed the moments we spent together. My father brings a sense of comfort to me and what I learned from him is how to deal with people of all walks of life.

Another person that comes to mind that provide me with a positive relationship through my life would be my mother. Having a mother is one of the best experiences I have encountered in a relationship. My relationship with my mother taught me how to deal with conflict and over come obstacles in order to move forward in a positive light.

Another person that comes to mind is a friend whose friendship taught me to love everyone unconditionally, including myself. Through this friendship I learned to be selfless with others and I learned to love myself.

My relationship with my current supervisor is a rewarding experience. I love the way I can express myself with her and her door is always open. She is never above taking suggestions from me or hearing my opinion. Although she is my supervisor she makes me feel like her equal and for that I appreciate her. When she offers constructive criticism I accept it as a way for me to become better because that’s way she delivers the message to me.

There are so many positive relationships I could name, the ones above are just a few that came to mind. It’s important to have positive relationship because these relationships allow for wisdom to share with others. With all of these positive relationships, what all of them included were communication, understanding, and selflessness. All of these things mentioned are important to maintain and have positive relationships.

Lastly, being able to have positive relationships will enhance my connection with children and their families. Having knowledge and experience of positive relationships, I will be able to give families and staff some of the tools that helped me maintain the positive relationships in my life. At the same time, realistically it is not always easy to have positive relationships and it takes work from all parties, knowing this I will be able to offer staff and families support through any challenges that they may face.

When I think of Child Development

"It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength". Maya-Angelou


"In the final analysis it is not what you do for your children but what you have taught them to do for themselves that will make them successful human beings". Ann Landers




http://www.quotesby.net/Maya-Angelou


http://quotations.about.com/cs/inspirationquotes/a/Children1.htm

Testing For Intelligence

I remember watching an episode of the television show “Good Times” and the family’s youngest son Michael received a low score on an aptitude test. Surprised that their son who always got good grades failed the test, Michael parents went to the school to find out why their son got a low score. To make a long story short the test given was created by those who were well fortunate and probably more educated. Therefore, the cultural differences made a difference to the children who took the test because they came from a lower social class, lower income homes, and had fewer opportunities. The test was unrealistic to children who grew up in different environment where they may not have had the same culture, customs, educational opportunities etc. The test was a generalized test based on middle and upper class America. How can a child pass a test of that caliber if they are experiencing different things in their natural environment? For example, children who attend school in middle class areas may have more access to books. On the other hand, children in poor communities may not even have access to books in their class rooms. I mentioned this to say that in assessing children the child as a “whole” should be looked at. In the real world academic achievement does not assess children as a whole; character, morals, custom, and cultural differences, all play a role in how children learn. So I do feel that assessment test should be geared not only towards academics but social and cognitive development as well.

Up until recently this system of creating test not targeted towards the community the test is given in, affected children in countries such as Jamaica. Prior to the new development of teaching, Jamaica’s text books were primarily written by Great Britain. This created a disparity to the children who are natives of Jamaica and their culture and history being different from that of Great Britain. As a result, children were tested on information that was not geared towards their own history and culture, making it difficult for them to relate to the information taught to them. In order for children of Jamaica to get proper education to move forward in the world, should they be tested based on high industrialized countries like Great Britain which is a far presentation of their environment? Many of these children performed poorly on assessment test leading them to drop out of school. It is my opinion that children are able to test better when they can relate to the information given to them.

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